Chapter Eight

"No way," Jane shakes her head vehemently, pointing her spoon at me. "Chris Pratt was not always cute."

I push her spoon away and warn, "Don't point that at me. And yes he has been!"

She sticks her spoon back into her ice cream as we continue walking through campus. "You're telling me that you thought he was hot in Parks and Rec?"

"I didn't say hot," I correct her. "But yes, he's always been cute. Even if he was a little chubby before."

Jane laughs and shakes her head, muttering, "You have a weird taste in men."

I choose to ignore her, and dip my spoon into my own ice cream before practically shoveling it into my mouth. We had trekked all the way to the convenience store a few blocks away because we were both craving Ben and Jerry's, and now we were shamelessly eating a pint on our way back to our dorm. To say I was enjoying this would be an understatement. I was in heaven.

"Lily!" A familiar voice shouts, and I look up to see Max jogging up to me, taking the headphones out of his ears as he grins at me. "Hey."

I don't respond right away, because my eyes zero in on the beads of sweat currently sliding down his forehead, which he wipes away with the hem of his shirt. In the process, he shows off his rock hard abs to me, and I see his tanned muscles from beneath his white shirt. His hair was pushed back with sweat, a result from the run he was just on, and he looked so sexy right then.

My mind instantly flashed to what he must look like during sex, thanks to the exposure of his abs and the sweat beading down his hairline, and I felt a blush coat my cheeks just thinking about it. I force my eyes to snap from his stomach to his eyes, which were squinted from the widened smile he was giving me. Oh God, you were just staring at his abs, and he totally knew it.

Jane nudges me, reminding me to speak, and I choke out, "Hey Max."

"What are you doing out right now?" Max asks casually, managing to somehow look hotter, and I had to fight away dirty thoughts.

Instead, I held up my pint of ice cream and blurted, "Had a craving."

After the words left my mouth, I inwardly cringed, and Jane stifled a giggle with a cough. I wanted to slap myself in the face for being so unable to be a normal person right now, but apparently my dumb comment didn't faze him, because Max took a step closer to me.

"Half Baked?" He glances at the label, then back at me. "That's my favorite. Do you mind if I have a bite?"

"Sure," I manage to say, and hold out the spoon for him.

Max grins and dips the spoon in, then puts it in his mouth, looking at me as he removes the spoon. I felt my cheeks heat up all over again just by the way he was looking at me through his thick lashes, and when he was done, he handed me my spoon back.

"Sharing your ice cream is a quick way to my heart," Max teases me.

Luckily, I'm able to string together a full sentence this time. "Don't get used to it, because I don't like to share."

His eyes flickered over me, giving me a slow once over, before another smile crept up his lips. His gaze met mine again and he said, "Me neither." Max puts one headphone back in his ear and backs up. "I should keep running, especially since I took an ice cream break. I'll see you later, though, right?"

I nod. "Yeah, maybe."

"Looking forward to it," Max says with a wink. "Bye, Lily."

And with that, he keeps running, passing me and Jane with long strides the opposite direction. When he finally leaves, I let out a breath, and Jane steps in front of me with an excited squeal and wide eyes.

"I take it back, you have incredible taste in men. That boy is irresistible, Lil," Jane gushes immediately. "I'm beyond jealous."

Once I regain composure, I start walking again, and she falls into step beside me. "There's nothing to be jealous of. We're just friends."

She scoffs. "I'm sorry, but are you blind? He was totally flirting with you."

"I don't know," I say slowly, debating whether or not to tell her about the radio station yesterday, before I give in. "He came by the radio station yesterday and we talked for a little, too. I wasn't sure if he was flirting or just being friendly."

Jane stops in front of me once again, putting her hands on my shoulders and saying, "Earth to Lily, that Greek God of a man was just flirting with you!"

A blush tints my cheeks as I look behind me to make sure he was indeed far away enough so that he wouldn't hear her words.

"Don't be so loud," I mutter, and then look back at her, a slow smile stretching across my face. "You really think he was flirting?"

She lets me go with a roll of her eyes, and we keep walking toward our dorms. "Positive. God, I wish I was friends with all those delectable Football boys. I mean, first Vincent, now Max?"

I frown at her. "What do you mean, Vincent?"

"He clearly wouldn't mind tearing your clothes off and making you scream, if you know what I mean," Jane says with a crude smirk. "You know, take you for a spin on his-"

"Jane!" I shout, my cheeks for sure beet red now. "Vincent does not like me like that. Just until a few days ago, we couldn't even bear to be in the same room together."

She simply shrugs at me. "There's a thin line between love and hate."

"There's also a thin line between best friend and that chick who's obsessed with boys," I point out teasingly, sticking my tongue out at her.

Jane rolls her eyes at me again. "As if you would ever stop being friends with me."

"Wanna bet?" I challenge childishly.

We continue talking about meaningless things, the kind of things that you talk about to pass the time, until we get back to our dorm. And, even though I should be just as engaged in our conversation about chocolate versus vanilla as Jane is, I can't help but let my mind wander to Max, nor can I help the hopeful smile that stays on my lips the entire walk back.

. . .

"I can't believe you stuffed me into this dress," I groan as I glare at Jane after catching my reflection in a window as we walk through campus. "My boobs do not even come close to fitting in this tight ass scrap of fabric."

Jane simply laughs at me and then tosses me a wink. "You won't be complaining when Max can't take his eyes off of you."

You might be a little confused, so let me rewind for a minute. After I got back to my dorm and spent admittedly a little too much time on Netflix, I got a text from a random number inviting me to a party. After asking who the person was and waiting about an hour for a response, it came with a name that instantly made me excited: Max.

How he got my number, I don't even know, but I can safely say that I didn't care whatsoever, because Max Caulfield had just invited me to a party. He gave me the address and told me he would see me there, and from then on, I enlisted Jane's help again for proper party attire. She did my hair and makeup before stuffing me into a two sizes too small red dress she owned.

"Red is a sexy color," Jane had told me. "It'll catch his attention immediately, and all he will think about is ripping it off of you."

While I had blushed beet red at her insinuation, I had gladly decided to wear something that would make me look good. The red dress clung to my curves in all the right places, even if it was too tight, and made me feel good. The thin spaghetti straps came to a cross on my back, leaving a large part of my shoulders and mid back bare before it met at a zipper a few inches above my waist.

The neckline plunged a few inches too far for my taste, but I decided not to care and wear it anyway. The dress reached to my mid thigh- again, a few inches too short- and rode up whenever I bent down. We were walking to the party and I was already positive that I would have to keep pulling it down unless I wanted to flash someone my backside.

When we finally made it to the frat house, there were cups and people littered across the front yard, and two large men by the front door as bouncers. They took one look at Jane as she sauntered up the walkway and opened the doors wide for the both of us, and she grabbed my hand to lead me through the crowd.

"You remember the rules, right?" She shout back at me as we squeezed into the kitchen.

"Mostly," I scream back.

With a nod, she leads me toward the keg, and fills me a cup of beer. I down it quickly, wanting the butterflies to leave my stomach immediately, and then fill up my second cup. We hang out in the kitchen against the counter for a few moments while she finishes her first cup, and I start on my third.

Within a few minutes of us standing there, chatting over the loud music, I feel someone sidle up beside me and lean down so their breath hits my ear. "Hello, gorgeous."

I turn and see a man whom I've never seen before, sweat glistening against his forehead and a crooked smile on his lips that told me that he was heavily intoxicated. His eyes were glazing over as they scanned my body, his gaze settling on my chest for a few more moments longer than necessary. I moved away from him, closer to Jane, and shook my head.

"I have a boyfriend," I excuse lamely, hoping that it would do the trick.

He just smirks. "I have a girlfriend, but that doesn't mean I want to take you upstairs any less. So, what do you say?"

I frown at him while Jane holds back an outright laugh at this guys disgusting words, and I think of something to say that would deter him. Luckily for me, I didn't have to come up with anything, because my favorite two hundred pound linebacker stepped in front of us with his arms crossed and eyes narrowed dangerously at the guy beside me.

Andrew glances at me and asks gruffly, "This dude bothering you?"

I glance at him and feel my frown subside as my expression floods with relief. "I was just telling him that I didn't want to go upstairs with him."

Much to my dismay, the guy besides me slithers his hand around my waist and pulls me closer to him. "Aw, come on babe, don't be like-"

"Hands off of her unless you want to get your ass kicked in front of everybody," Andrew growls, and then shoves the guy against the chest, sending him back a few feet. "Stay away from her, got it, asshole?"

The guy looks dazed as he mutters something under his breath and starts walking in the other direction, but I just grin at Andrew. "Thanks, Drew. It's much appreciated."

He nods once, an easygoing smile coming on his lips. "Anything for my favorite girl. Are you hanging out over here for awhile, or do you want to come say hey to the guys? They're in the living room."

"Let's go say hey," Jane nudges me, and then whispers, "Maybe Max is over there."

I fight the urge to blush and smile at Andrew. "Lead the way."

We walk through the throngs of people pressed up against each other, which isn't that hard when you have a guy like Andrew making the crowd practically split in half to let you through. The DJ is set up in the front of the room with lights situated on either side of him, making the room light up in purple and blue beams, tainting everyones face a nice lavender color.

Jane and I follow Andrew as he leads us to a pocket of people in the middle of the room, where I can hear Trevor's goofy laugh even with the volume of the music. I squeeze into the circle with Jane beside me and grin when I see Trevor, Holden, Vincent, and Max. They all seem to notice me and Jane's arrival at the same time, and their eyes widen as they take in my appearance.

"Lily?" Trevor asks, his widened eyes staring at my dress. "You're in a dress."

"Who thought that would happen?" I joke with a smile.

I glance at Max, whose eyes are similarly raking up and down my body, before he looks at me. "Wow," He breathes, and then smiles. "You look beautiful, Lily."

Someone snorts, and I don't need to look at him to know it was Vincent. "Keep it in your pants, Caulfield."

Trevor's eyes slide to Jane before they widen even more, and I see the change in his expression as he grins and sticks his hand out. "Hi, I'm not sure we've met, but I'm Trevor."

Jane smiles secretively, and I know it's because she's thinking about our conversation, when I banned her from messing with any of my friends. "Jane," She says, shaking his hand slowly. "I've seen you around with Lily before."

"Likewise," Trevor says with a wink. "Do you want to dance?"

Jane smiles wider as she grabs his hand and leads him out onto the dance floor by way of an acceptance of his invitation. I narrow my eyes at her retreating figure, and she turns back to throw me a wink before disappearing in the crowd. When I turn again, Max has moved across the circle to be beside me, and he throws an arm around my shoulder.

Looks like I finally get that alone time with Max.